Child abuse victim speaks out about her past

Ashley Patrick of Springdale says when she was younger she didn’t know much about child abuse let alone that it was happening to her. Patrick says at first talking about it wasn’t an option. “I was too scared to talk about it and it wasn’t just because of the threat reveling it was just very painful,” said Patrick.

20 year old Ashley Patrick says her stepfather was sexually abusing her from the ages 6 through 8. Patrick says at the time he made it seem like it was normal. She says at such a young age when her stepfather would threaten to harm her family if she told keeping quiet at the time seemed like her only choice. “He would always tell me that if you tell anybody I will kill your family I will kill you and when you’re a little kid your family is everything to you. So that scared me and I didn’t say anything,” said Patrick

Patrick said Department of Human Services found out about the abuse from a tip and she was taken into foster care. Patrick said had she been more educated about child abuse prevention she would’ve talked sooner. Now at age 20 Patrick has a message to children who are currently being sexually or physically abused. “I would tell them it’s not their fault and to not be ashamed of it and to not be afraid to speak up,” said Patrick.

Patrick said she started a private Facebook page called Sexual Abuse and Assault Awareness. She said this can be an outlet for abused children to finally open up. Children’s advocacy centers in our area such as Rogers and Springdale are also other outlets abused children can use to get help.